Camil Samson (January 3, 1935 - December 18, 2012) was a politician in
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
, Canada, Member of the
National Assembly of Quebec
The National Assembly of Quebec (officially in french: link=no, Assemblée nationale du Québec) is the legislative body of the province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; french: link=no, déput ...
(MNA), and leader of the
Ralliement créditiste du Québec
The ''Ralliement créditiste du Québec'' was a provincial political party in Quebec, Canada that operated from 1970 to 1978 (the party was also known as the ''Parti créditiste'' from September to December 1973, contesting the 1973 provincial el ...
and other political parties.
Background and personal life
He was born in
Shawinigan
Shawinigan () is a city located on the Saint-Maurice River in the Mauricie area in Quebec, Canada. It had a population of 49,349 as of the 2016 Canadian census.
Shawinigan is also a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE) an ...
, Quebec, to Wilbroy Samson, a journalist and farmer, and Irène Carle. He completed his studies in Shawinigan, Cléricy and at the Duchesnay forestry station. From 1952 to 1956, he worked in the forestry industry. From 1956 to 1970, he worked in the automobile industry as a salesman, service manager, and sales manager. He was also an insurance agent.
In 1997, he beat cancer of the bladder, but suffered from many health problems in his later years.
["L'ex-politicien Camil Samson s'éteint à l'âge de 77 ans", ''Le Soleil'', 19 Dec 201]
/ref>
Political activist
In 1963 and 1964, he was the president of the ''Jeunesse créditiste du Canada'', the youth wing of the Ralliement créditiste
Historically in Quebec, Canada, there were a number of political parties that were part of the Canadian social credit movement. There were various parties at different times with different names at the provincial level, all broadly following the s ...
, a political party that nominated candidates in federal elections and promoted social credit
Social credit is a distributive philosophy of political economy developed by C. H. Douglas. Douglas attributed economic downturns to discrepancies between the cost of goods and the compensation of the workers who made them. To combat what he ...
theories of monetary reform
Monetary reform is any movement or theory that proposes a system of supplying money and financing the economy that is different from the current system.
Monetary reformers may advocate any of the following, among other proposals:
* A return t ...
. He later became the secretary and vice president of the party. He was unsuccessful as the party's candidate in the Pontiac-Témiscamingue riding in the 1965 federal election. In the 1966 Quebec provincial election, he was the unsuccessful candidate for the Quebec separatist
The Quebec sovereignty movement (french: Mouvement souverainiste du Québec) is a political movement whose objective is to achieve the sovereignty of Quebec, a province of Canada since 1867, including in all matters related to any provision of ...
Ralliement national
Ralliement national (RN) (in English: "National Rally") was a separatist and right-wing populist provincial political party that advocated the political independence of Quebec from Canada in the 1960s.
The party was led by former '' créditiste' ...
party in Temiscamingue riding. He was the president of the Chamber of Commerce in Rouyn-Noranda
Rouyn-Noranda ( 2021 population 42,313) is a city on Osisko Lake in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region of Quebec, Canada.
The city of Rouyn-Noranda is a coextensive with a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE) and census ...
in 1969.
Provincial politics
He founded the Ralliement créditiste du Québec
The ''Ralliement créditiste du Québec'' was a provincial political party in Quebec, Canada that operated from 1970 to 1978 (the party was also known as the ''Parti créditiste'' from September to December 1973, contesting the 1973 provincial el ...
party, and was named president of the party on January 24, 1970. This party was the provincial counterpart of the ''Ralliement créditiste du Canada'', founded to promote social credit policies at the provincial level in Quebec.
In the 1970 Quebec election campaign, in an unfortunate moment of rhetorical transport, delivered this line in reference to the government against which he was running: "Ladies and gentlemen, the Union Nationale has brought you to the edge of the abyss. With Social Credit, you will take one step forward." The ''créditistes'' nonetheless benefited from the decline of the conservative Union Nationale party and made a modest breakthrough, winning 12 seats in the National Assembly and 11.2% of the vote; Samson was elected in the riding of Rouyn-Noranda
Rouyn-Noranda ( 2021 population 42,313) is a city on Osisko Lake in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region of Quebec, Canada.
The city of Rouyn-Noranda is a coextensive with a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE) and census ...
. The party was never able to build on this initial success because it was wracked continually by internal divisions.
Samson served as leader of the party from March 22, 1970 to February 13, 1972. On March 16, Camil Samson was expelled from the party by nine of the créditiste MNAs (organized by interim leader Armand Bois) for criticizing some of the caucus members, and for not attending party meetings. On March 19, Samson declared himself to be the leader of a new ''créditiste'' group, and demanded to be seated in the National Assembly as a member of the "Registered ''Ralliement créditiste du Québec''", along with two other ''créditiste'' MNAs, Aurèle Audet (Abitibi-Ouest) and Bernard Dumont (Mégantic). However, the speaker of the National Assembly recognized Armand Bois as parliamentary leader of the ''Ralliement créditiste du Québec''. On August 11, Samson, Dumont and Audet rejoined the ''Ralliement créditiste''.
He ran again for the leadership of the party at its convention on February 4, 1973, but was defeated by former federal Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
cabinet minister Yvon Dupuis. Because Dupuis was not a sitting member of the National Assembly, Samson served as parliamentary leader of the renamed ''Parti créditiste'' from March 15 to September 25, 1973.
He was re-elected in the 1973 provincial election, along with only one other créditiste, Fabien Roy
Fabien Roy (born April 17, 1928) is a former Canadian politician who was active in Quebec in the 1970s. Roy was elected to the National Assembly of Quebec and the House of Commons of Canada, and advocated social credit theories of monetary refo ...
. Before the 1976 election, there was a further split as the only two sitting ''Parti créditiste'' MNAs went their separate ways. Samson became leader of the party, once again called the ''Ralliement créditiste du Québec'' again on May 11, 1975, while Fabien Roy was expelled from the party.
Samson was re-elected in the 1976 provincial election as the only ''créditiste'' MNA. (Fabien Roy was the only MNA elected for his new party, the Parti national populaire
The Parti national populaire (PNP, in English: "Popular National Party" ) was a minor political party in Quebec, Canada that operated in the 1970s.
The PNP was created by a split in the Ralliement créditiste du Québec after Fabien Roy was e ...
.)
On November 12, 1978, Samson founded a new party, ''Les Démocrates
Les Démocrates (in English: The Democrats) was a provincial political party in Quebec, Canada, founded by former Ralliement créditiste du Québec leader Camil Samson and former Progressive Conservative Party of Canada federal cabinet minister Pi ...
'', with Pierre Sévigny, who had been a Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (PC; french: Parti progressiste-conservateur du Canada) was a centre-right federal political party in Canada that existed from 1942 to 2003.
From Canadian Confederation in 1867 until 1942, the ...
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
from 1958 to 1963. This party was renamed on January 1, 1980, the ''Parti démocrate créditiste''.
On October 15, 1980, Samson joined the Parti libéral du Québec
The Quebec Liberal Party (QLP; french: Parti libéral du Québec, PLQ) is a provincial political party in Quebec. It has been independent of the federal Liberal Party of Canada since 1955. The QLP has always been associated with the colour red; e ...
, bringing the ''Parti démocrate créditiste'' to an end. He was defeated in his bid for re-election to the National Assembly in Rouyn-Noranda–Témiscamingue
Rouyn-Noranda–Témiscamingue is a provincial electoral district in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region of Quebec, Canada, which elects members to the National Assembly of Quebec. It notably includes large portions of the city of Rouyn-Noranda as w ...
riding in the 1981 provincial election.
Radio host
He worked as a radio announcer for CKCV
CKCV was a French-language Canadian radio station located in Quebec City, Quebec. It operated from 1924 to 1990.
For most of its existence the station broadcast on 1280 kHz on the AM band, using a daytime power of 10,000 watts and a nighttime p ...
from 1981 to 1984, and for CHRC in Quebec City
Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...
from 1984 to 1993. He also participated in numerous television broadcasts on Télévision Quatre-Saisons network from 1989 to 1991.
Federal politics
He ran unsuccessfully as a Liberal candidate in Québec-Est riding in the 1993 federal election, and was named special advisor to the federal minister responsible for the Quebec City region in 1994.
Sources
*''Camil Samson et le défi créditiste: l'homme, le parti et l'équipe'', Québec, Éditions du Griffon, 1970, 195 p.
See also
* List of third party leaders (Quebec)
This is a list of politicians who served as Third party (politics), third party parliamentary leaders (''chefs parlementaires'') at the National Assembly of Quebec. Parties with fewer than twelve Members of the National Assembly (MNA) 12 members ...
* History of Quebec
Quebec was first called ''Canada'' between 1534 and 1763. It was the most developed colony of New France as well as New France's centre, responsible for a variety of dependencies (ex. Acadia, Plaisance, Louisiana, and the Pays d'en Haut). Co ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Samson, Camil
1935 births
2012 deaths
Ralliement créditiste du Québec MNAs
People from Shawinigan
Quebec political party leaders
Canadian talk radio hosts
Les Démocrates politicians